


Traditions

by pr_squared



Category: Planet of the Apes (Movies 1968-1973)
Genre: Gen, Hunters & Hunting, Non-Human Humanoid Society, meat paradox
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:41:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23117896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pr_squared/pseuds/pr_squared
Summary: I read Athaia's 12 part tale "Planet of the Apes: Hunted" yesterday and recommend you do the same.She reminded me of the thrill and disbelief when I first read Pierre Boulle's "Planet of the Apes" many years ago (50 years).I remember sitting in the theater and seeing the movie.Apes view men as animals.Men may understand simple commands but cannot talk.Animals may be unclothed but are never considered to be naked.Intimate relations with animals are disgusting.The movie has its memorable ending.The book ends with a civilized ape couple reading the manuscript through and discussing whether such an outlandish tale might be true.Athaia presents a character, Aelia, a female chimp, dedicated to re-establishing a population of free men in the wild and contrasts her with Zorya, a kindly apess, who tries to find men new ape families.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	1. Aelia

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Athaia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaia/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Marooned On The Planet Of The Apes](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11501430) by [Athaia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athaia/pseuds/Athaia). 



> I read Athaia's 12 part tale "Planet of the Apes: Hunted" yesterday and recommend you do the same.  
> She reminded me of the thrill and disbelief when I first read Pierre Boulle's "Planet of the Apes" many years ago (50 years).  
> I remember sitting in the theater and seeing the movie.
> 
> Apes view men as animals.  
> Men may understand simple commands but cannot talk.  
> Animals may be unclothed but are never considered to be naked.  
> Intimate relations with animals are disgusting.
> 
> The movie has its memorable ending.  
> The book ends with a civilized ape couple reading the manuscript through and discussing whether such an outlandish tale might be true.
> 
> Athaia presents a character, Aelia, a female chimp, dedicated to re-establishing a population of free men in the wild and contrasts her with Zorya, a kindly apess, who tries to find men new ape families.

Without a care in the world, the mischievous joeys ran about and played noisily in their pen. Aelia, a handsome rather than beautiful chimp, did all their worrying for them. She watched them play and smiled. Her dark brown eyes gleamed when she spoke with passion of her life’s work. 

Once, the Western Forests had teemed with men. Man mobs had roamed at will and raided the carefully tended ape orchards and fields. Hunting to limit men’s numbers and depredations had once been central to Simian culture.

Now, hunting had ended except in books and movies. The forests still prospered. Figs, corkwood trees, and custard apples flourished. Tapirs and marsh deer thrived. Men were more plentiful than ever but they had been trapped and hunted to extinction in the wild.

Apes had domesticated men for generations and bred them to Simian needs and preferences. Careful breeding had reduced men’s once long years to maturity at the cost of limiting man's already limited intelligence. Some breeds birthed twins reliably. Strong dark-skinned men, almost black, labored long hours under the hot sun on the Southern plantations. Long-legged racing men were bred for speed and endurance. Men had been reduced to a miniature size, not three feet tall, most suitable for house pets. 

Aelia believed fiercely that men were wild animals by nature and belonged in the wild. She was no “men are sentient” radical. Simply, she believed that men should live free. Re-establishment of a man population in the wild was the apes’ clear responsibility as stewards of this world. Some woke apes shared her conservationist views and contributed time and money for her cause. Caeso, her husband, a bit amused, supported her fully in her work. 

Some argued that domesticated men were far better off, well fed and cared for. Simian civilization had no tolerance for cruelty or animal abuse. Their wild cousins had wandered the forest cold and hungry. They lived in constant terror of dangers, real and imagined, with no one to protect them. Many likely died from starvation, injury, or predation.

“The Wheel of Life!” Aelia snapped back. “Man’s domestication is simply unnatural. Men should live free. Men are resourceful. Nature will select those whose natural instincts are still strong, and weed out the others. The result will be a strong and healthy stock of wild men, just as nature intended!”

Mature men, reared in captivity and long accustomed to Simian care, lacked the necessary attitudes and skills to survive in the wild. However, younger joeys might be gradually weaned from domestication and taught to survive. 

Joeys were not expensive. Men bred prolifically and some number was always destined for culling. Breeders prized the timid and obedient. Aelia’s goals were quite different. Aelia and her colleagues wanted men who might survive in the wild.

They taught their charges to care for themselves, to find their own food and water. Over the first several months, they offered native fruit, seeds, berries, and nuts to the men in their pens instead of the usual man feed. The men quickly learned to use stones to crack open tough panda nuts and kola nuts. Oil palm nuts were nutritious and less of a challenge. They fought boisterously over pans of swarming termites, fat maggots, and squirming beetle grubs 

After several months in the pens, they moved the men to the fenced preserve, where they might pick their own fruit and nuts from the trees, and harvest berries from the bushes. The men quickly learned to use sticks to dig for ants, termites, and beetle grubs. Aelia wrinkled her nose in distaste but cheered their progress when she found them picking fat maggots from a decaying rabbit carcass.

They learned to recognize danger. As much as she loved them, they must learn to fear all apes and even her. This was the hardest part. Cruelty, even faux cruelty, did not come easily to her.

Each spring, she and her associates released a dozen or so of men, believed to be ready, into the Western Forest. Each was chipped to monitor his or her movements. Aelia and her helpers opened their cages and beat on trash can covers. The men fled and disappeared into the forest, jacks and jills both. Some of the jills were already pregnant. A few always balked and were driven away with whips and man-goads. 

The men could now live exactly as nature intended, free of the Simian yoke. Some survived and some did not.

Aelia and her helpers monitored their numbers and maintained feeding stations to ease the transition. Simian access to the forest was severely restricted so that men might live largely undisturbed. Slowly, year by year, the man population increased.

Aelia and her husband kept a cabin in the deep in woods to further her work. The permits had been hard to come by. Far from any road and in forest land prohibiting all-terrain vehicles, they had had the help of a helicopter and a team of men rented from a nearby farmer, to Aelia’s embarrassment. Despite its rustic exterior, its interior boasted the most modern comforts and conveniences. Solar panels and a back-up battery provided electricity to power the lights, refrigerator and freezer. A propane tank supplied the stove. Far from any road, Aelia and Caeso kept a sturdy man to carry in supplies and carry out trash. The cabin offered a comfortable, secure pen.

Campers and hikers reported their sightings. Aelia heard increasing complaints of pilfered campsites. More than once, Aelia found ravaged carcasses of capybara and pudu deer in her wandering. Obviously, the men had learned to work together to run down small game. She was proud of what they had accomplished.

Aelia took it upon herself to stock the feeding stations. Some days, she brought her son Quintus along. Days, she only rarely saw a man and the jack or jill always fled when they saw her – a success. Some mornings, she arose before dawn and hiked to a blind near one of the feeding stations. She smiled to see the thriving men enjoy her hospitality. Some of the jills carried their adorable little joeys. Once, she saw several larger jacks attack a smaller male, rocks in hand, and beat him to death. She resisted the powerful urge to intervene. She watched them rip the battered body apart and feed gruesomely. Men were truly animals! 

Time passed. 

Aelia set off for her blind in the dark. She was in position before the first light of dawn. Silently, she just watched when a jill carrying her joey stopped at the feeder and fed. A jack appeared – a young one and again she waited. He would bulk up in a year. Time passed and a second jack appeared. He was hers. She raised her rifle and felt the link with all generations of hunter apes, past and future. One shot and he fell.

Aelia and Caeso reviewed the census numbers and their target had finally been achieved. A date was set in the fall and a strict bag limit was established. Only jacks might be taken. That first year, Aelia was awarded one permit and the others were distributed by lottery to her generous sponsors. 

She called Caeso on her cellphone. By the time he arrived, leading their man by a lead attached to her nose ring, she had her jack bled and gutted. His innards lay in a smoking pile in the early morning chill. He was a big one and Aelia, despite her views, was glad they had a strong man to carry his carcass back to the cabin. They loaded him onto their sturdy man. Aelia slapped her butt to urge her along. The man was unclothed, except for her tack, but no one thinks of an animal as naked. She noted the well-healed brand burned into her bare backside. She had retrieved the microchip implanted at the base of her jack’s neck but his body had never been disfigured with an ape's ownership mark.

A full week passed before Aelia visited the feeder again in the hours before dawn. No men were evident. Two weeks later and men had returned, though tentatively and few. A full year would pass before the next hunt. Men were cunning but kept no calendars.

More years passed. Once, all the men in the forest had carried her refuge’s microchip. Now about a third had been born in the wild and never known captivity. The harvest was carefully increased. Permits and bag fees supported her work. Paid staff and volunteers increased.

Kobbo College had begun a long-term project to breed men back to what they had been a thousand years before in the wild. Scientists asserted that the reduction in time to maturity had further reduced men’s already limited intelligence. 

Caeso and Aelia’s son, Quintus was fourteen. He had grown up in the cabin in the forest. He had helped his mother at the refuge and hid his laughter to terrorize the screaming joeys. He restocked the feeders with his parents. He had sat in the blind in the predawn chill and watched the men feed. He had practiced his marksmanship for years, looking toward this day. An ape must be able to protect himself in the forest so far from civilization. This was his year to hunt. 

Glad for his clothes and thick fur against the morning chill. He wondered how the furless men tolerated the cold. He must ask them, he chuckled and stared into the darkness. Quintus cradled his rifle and waited in the dawn’s first light. Waiting silently was hard. His mother sat beside him.

Aelia watched the feeder too and said nothing. Caeso had bought a permit for a jill. A few were offered this year for the first time though no pregnant jill and no jill seen with her joey might be taken. The man mobs must be managed. If all went well, they would answer a long simmering question. Suddenly, she tapped Quintus on the arm. 

Quintus raised the rifle to his shoulder and took a deep breath. He took careful aim at his quarry. At once, he felt the powerful bond linking him to all generations of hunter apes, past and future.


	2. Zorya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Aelia, I had to give Zorya a chance.

“You saw our add?” Zorya surveyed the scene with a touch of pride. “This is my shelter. We rescue abandoned men and care for them. Hunters bring us orphaned joeys. We train them and try to find them good homes. We are a Simians for the Ethical Treatment of Men – SET’M - approved facility.” Zorya wore her official “Zorya’s Shelter” blouse with the SET’M approved badge. 

The smell was better than she feared. Epidia saw the men in their chain-link cages. She saw men who towered over her and little toy men - all shapes and sizes

Jacks and jills were caged separately. Their naughty bits were on blatant display. The jacks were certainly well endowed, at least compared to the apes she knew and no apparent shame. She dismissed the lurid speculation with effort. An animal might be unclothed but was never considered naked. Several jills or joeys might share a cage but each jack was caged singly.

She saw a young ape playing with a cute little joey, while his indulgent parents looked on. Sometimes men looked so apelike. “How did they end up here? Were they problem men?”

Zorya shook her head sadly. “A few, perhaps, had violent outbursts or casual bathroom habits."

Epidia nodded in agreement. Apes who treasured a perfectly kept house rarely kept a pet man.

“Some are brought here. We’ve heard everything.” Zorya shook her head. “One ape told me that he never imagined that a man might grow so large. One family was moving to a small apartment with less room for a vigorous man. One couple worried that their man was jealous of their new baby. Many are just abandoned in the street as if they had the skills to survive. Unless a man is too badly damaged, we don’t euthanize, unlike some,” she concluded with some satisfaction. It was hard to believe that apes might be so irresponsible! Unlike Aelia, she cared for her charges. Aelia made them fend for themselves! 

“Is it hard to find them homes?”

“Easier for some than for others. We do best with the young joeys and toy men. It’s often harder to find a home for a fully grown large jack or jill. If someone agrees to adopt a jack or jill, we’ll geld or spay them for no added charge. Our adoption charge is quite modest.” Zorya boasted quietly.

Zorya took her outside to see the men playing in the exercise paddock. “When weather allows, we try to give them a couple of hours outside each day."

Epidia watched them play. “Only so many can play in the paddock at one time and you have only so many cages?” she asked.

“And only so many donations and only so many hard-working staff,” Zorya agreed. Perhaps, Epidia would rise to the challenge and help. 

Epidia loved her new job. She wore the official shelter blouse with the SET’M-approved badge. She showed eager men to prospective families. She fed them and tidied-up their messes. She watched them when they cavorted in the exercise paddock. She got to cuddle with the joeys. She and Naevia, her cohort, weren’t able to bathe the larger men but they could blast them with a hose and laugh at their antics. She helped with the gelding and spaying.

Sadly, more men were housed than could be adopted. The older, larger men were the most difficult. Zorya did not euthanize. However, a truck came weekly to collect the excess. Luckily, the surplus men might be sold to the local medical school. Epidia was sad to see them leave but pleased that they would contribute to medical knowledge.


	3. Hunting Girls

Geminius walked up to the enclosure, two leashes in hand. The sun had yet to rise above the horizon. He wanted an early start on the day. Hunting was a long-standing simian tradition. 

Mary-Kate and Ashley, his trained hunting girls, were sleeping in their kennel. Mary-Kate raised her head and saw him. She poked Ashley and jumped to her feet. She ran and threw herself against the fence. Ashley was only a step behind her. 

Geminus smiled. They were always so excited to see him. Perhaps, because he was the one to feed them, he allowed, but that wasn’t totally everything. He held up the leashes and their excitement exploded into frenzy.  
“Down! Down, girls!” The well-trained men sank down on their haunches and watched him eagerly. Their thick, long hair, light brown and blonde, cascaded down to their buttocks. He opened the gate and carefully closed it behind him. He clipped the leashes to their collars and gave each half of a dried fig – a little but not too much. They hunted better when hungry. He led them from the enclosure. They saw the van and charged ahead. He had to pull back hard on the leashes but just once. “Heel!” he barked.

Slender and long-legged, these were hunting men – standing about 4 and a half feet, almost the same height as he, and bred for speed and endurance- not the 3-foot lap-men favored as pets. No ape could run down a man in an open field but no man could outrace a bullet, Geminius chuckled. 

He opened the hatchback and they piled in eagerly. He secured the hatch, checked on his rifle case, made certain he had his permit, and set off to pick up his friend and hunting partner, Opellius. Everything was approved by SET’M, Simians for the Ethical Treatment of Men.

Opellius greeted the impatient girls in back. They were beautiful creatures, wiry and long legged. Some preferred hunting boys but most found the girls more focused and less distractible. Their small mammillae would not slow them down. 

Geminus and Opellius walked through the forest, rifles in hand. The men pulled eagerly at their leashes. Geminius held them back. He picked up a switch to remind them who was master and who his usually obedient beasts. Opellius cradled his rifle and watched Geminus struggle with a grin.

Suddenly, the men were quiet. Opellius searched the brush. He saw pink! “There!” he whispered hoarsely and pointed.

Quickly, Geminus freed Mary-Kate and Ashley. They were off in a flash. Their quarry broke cover and ran. 

Opellius watched them run. “How will we ever catch up with them?” he asked, hands on hips.

Geminius smiled. He reached into his pocket and retrieved his smart phone. “See this app? The men are chipped.”

Opellius saw two maps, one above the other with a flashing point of light.”

Geminus pointed – Mary-Kate and Ashley. “This button for a mild correction. This red button will incapacitate her.”

The forest man saw the hunters about two hundred yards away and confronted his desperate dilemma. Should he hug the ground and hope to remain hidden? Should he break cover and run? Their thunder-sticks had a long reach but a moving target at a distance offered some challenge. No ape could outrun a man on open ground.

He heard a shout and looked up. One of the apes had raised his hand and pointed. That answered his question. The man waited no longer. He jumped to his feet and ran. No ape could match his speed and endurance. He ran two hundred yards at a dead run before he looked back. He could not see the apes anymore. However, he saw two small -titted jills pursuing him, one brown haired and one blonde. He saw the collars around their necks and the wild eagerness on their faces. He turned and ran another two hundred yards. The jills were still there, still running and perhaps a bit closer. 

He ran until he could run no more. His side ached. Breath burned in his chest. He fought to regain his wind. One jill stood in front of him and one behind. He lunged the blond in front of him. She jumped away. The brunette ran up and pushed him. He turned to grab her but she was gone. The blond shoved him when he turned and he almost fell. She fled out of reach. The man looked up and saw the apes. A bullet smashed through his forehead and he collapsed.

Geminius and Opellius followed the jills at a walk. Geminius check his app. “They stopped moving,” Geminius concluded. They climbed one more hill and coming down, saw the man harried by the two jills. He seemed not to see the apes at all. “Okay, your shot,” he offered Opellius generously.

The man lay motionless. Mary-Kate touched his outstretched arm. He did not move. Sensing no threat, Mary-Kate pulled on his arm. Ashley pulled on his foot. He did not move. Bolder now, Mary-Kate sniffed his genitals.  
Geminus called his men back. Reluctantly, they slunk to his side and sank on their haunches. “Good girls. Good girls!” He secured their leashes and helped Opellius.

The two hung their quarry. Opellius opened his throat and bled him out. The girls watched intently while Opellius field dressed him. His innards lay in a steaming pile on the ground.

Geminius opened his scrotum and fed one bloody testicle to Mary-Kate and one to Ashley. They tied a rope around each ankle and dragged the gutted carcass back to the van. Geminius got the girls back in the van. Together, Opellius and Geminius lashed the carcass over the hood. Geminius cut the chewy pizzle lengthwise and gave a half to each girl to gnaw on the way home. 

Geminus and Opellius drove home, quite satisfied with the days’ efforts. “Wasn’t too long ago,” Geminius reminisced. “Twenty-years – not one man lived in the wild. Only now can we hunt as our ancestors hunted.” 

Opellius snorted and pointed to the carcass on the hood of the van. “One fewer man lives in the wild this afternoon.” Though the harvest was tightly controlled and permits strictly limited, more than one man had been taken in the three day fall hunting season. 

“You know, Aelia doesn’t approve of hunting men.” Geminius went on.

“Thought she started all this?” Hunting was a long-standing simian tradition! Hunting was hardly more cruel or less simian than raising men in tiny pens and slaughtering them for meat and skins. 

“Hunting like this. Doesn’t approve of running them down with hunting men. Doesn’t think it sporting. SET’M is debating her proposal.” 

“She baits! She leaves out treats all year and then sits in her blind and picks her man during the hunting season.” Opellius snorted and shook his head. “That doesn’t seem very sporting either. I think I’ll petition SET’M too.”


End file.
